History
by ICRepresentative
Summary: Jack and Barbossa knew each other well from time past. Jack trusted his old captain, and that trust was his undoing. One shot.


**Disclaimer**: Potc belongs to other people. Jack, Barbossa, Pintel and Ragetti all rock my socks.

* * *

Hector looked at himself in the mirror and scowled. He certainly wasn't getting any younger. His once-copper beard was sliced with stripes of silver, and no matter how many of those white hairs he pulled out, the bastards just grew right back. He was getting older. Hector scowled at himself again. The mood of the whole ship was dark. They hadn't had a good catch in weeks. The crew were muttering. Pfah. As though the captain decided when and where a hunt would take place. Nevertheless, the crew needed someone to blame. And they blamed the captain, the man they once called the greatest pirate ever to sail… the man they now called 'frail old man' and 'doddering fool'. Behind his back, of course, but Hector had his ways. This ship was, after all, his… and he knew how to find every single secret from her. Hector snorted, then tugged at his beard. Doddering old man indeed. He was barely into his forties and already the crew wanted someone younger. Younger didn't mean experienced, blast them! 

Bah. Let the crew mutter. Hector turned away from the mirror and sat down behind the oak table. Let them mutter, let then snigger. Time catches up with everyone. No-one gets out of life alive. And, for the time being, he was still the captain. And he would keep command of this ship, come what may.

There was a tentative knock on his door. "Enter." Hector barked.

A young roguish face peered round the doorway. "You wanted t' see me, captain?" The young man's eyes were dimmed - he was expecting punishment.

Hector smiled to ease the lad's fears. "Aye, that I did, Jack my boy. Come in, sit down." He rose, as a good host should, and went to his collection of drinks. "Can I get ye something, lad? Wine, brandy, whiskey, rum?"

But Jack shook his head. "You taught me never to drink on duty. And it's one of the rules you put down."

Hector chuckled. "Ah, but there's ne'er been a rule that weren't made t' be broken. What'll it be?"

The young Jack blinked, then grinned. "Rum, thanks, captain."

Hector put a tumbler full of rum on the table in front of Jack, then sat back in his own chair with a goblet of wine. Very fine wine, actually. Stolen from the captain's quarters of a well-stocked French trading vessel. Now _that_ was a good haul.

"Whatever the Bosun said I did, I didn't do it."

Hector looked at Jack lazily. "Really?"

The young man nodded. "Aye. That bastard's been trying to pin every disaster on me."

"Ye don't say," Hector mused, one eyebrow raised. The boy squirmed.

"Yeah. I wasn't even _IN_ the galley when the slop bucket tipped over." Jack scowled. "And he's saying I pushed it onto him, just to get back for that time he trussed me up and threw me in with the rats." The boy shuddered.

"So ye didn't do anythin' at all that would make the Bosun angry?"

Jack suddenly looked very guilty. "No."

Hector sipped his wine and smiled. "Nothin' at all?"

"Nothing at all, captain."

Hector smiled into his goblet, then forced himself to be serious. "Well then, Jack my lad, I've no reason to doubt ye. Your word is your bond and all that." The captain shook his head in mock-despair, then set his goblet down. "But don't worry, lad, we're not here to discuss what the Bosun thinks of ye." Jack looked visibly relieved, but still uneasy. "No doubt ye've heard what the men are callin' me," Hector said amicably.

Jack's brown eyes were innocent. "No. What?"

But Hector waved a hand dismissively. "The gist of it is, lad, that I'm not fit t' be captain much longer." Hector lost his composure for a moment, "Those fools…" He forced away unpleasant thoughts with a smile. "Ah, but never mind them." He turned his smile on Jack. "Today, we talk about something much more important."

"Cap'n?"

Hector sighed wearily and set his goblet down. "Fact o' the matter is, Jack, whether I like it or not, I'm going to have to step down." He smiled apologetically at the cabin boy. "And frankly, I don't know who I'm going to appoint to take my place."

Jack shrugged thin shoulders. "Well, why the bloody hell are you asking me?"

Hector hid a smile at the cabin-boy's language. "Because you're the eyes and ears on this ship, Jack. Everyone says what they think around you, and no-one thinks you'll tell. Because if you do tell tales to the captain, they'll beat you black and blue. Aye?"

Jack looked sullen. "They beat me black and blue anyways, captain." He chugged down the rest of his rum.

Hector picked up his goblet. "I see." He sipped at the wine, thoughtfully. "So there isn't anyone you'd recommend to be captain?"

Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. "In this crew? Not a soul."

Hector hid yet another smile behind his goblet. "An' how old are ye, Jack?"

Jack looked at Hector, suspiciously. "Nearly twenty. Why?"

Hector downed the rest of his wine. The dregs were bitter. But then, so was life. Opportunities come and go - best take what you can and give nothing back. And this was an opportunity that Jack could not afford to pass by. And Hector knew that.

"When we come to the next port," Hector said, savouring each word, "I'm dumping this rag-tag bunch of scum-sucking bilge rats and getting a new crew. And I want you to be the captain."

Jack's brown eyes grew huge, and his jaw hung to the floor. "You want WHAT!" Jack leapt from his chair and began to pace around the room. Barbossa watched, amused, as the young man babbled, his eyes wide. "No, no, no, captain, I'm… I'm not right for this kind of job… I don't know anything about runnin' a ship, or orderin' people about… I'm the one with the mop and bucket! I don't know how t' BE a captain!"

Hector sat back and smiled. A wide smile. "That's why, Jack my lad, ye'll be perfect. The _Pearl_ doesn't need a captain who'll lord it up, try t' take control of her. She needs someone who cares about her, who knows she's more than just a ship." Jack stared at Hector, a strange expression on his face. "What?" Hector frowned.

"You speak like she's alive." Jack said, sitting down with a dismissive flip of the hand.

Hector smiled a sly smile as Jack sat back down. "And ye think she's not?"

Jack shrugged and stared out the window.

Hector knew from the way Jack avoided the question that Jack also felt the ship's subtle life-force. Hiding a smile, Hector rose to his feet and made for the door.

"I couldn't think of a man I'd rather trust the _Pearl_ t'." Hector said, forcing himself to keep an expression on his face that wouldn't betray him. "You'd make a fine captain, Jack, make no mistake."

"What are you going t' do, captain?" Jack asked, rising from his seat. "I mean, when you quit being a captain?"

"Who knows?" Hector shrugged, speaking wryly. "I've enough stash tucked away t' keep me in wine and women for a time. P'raps, someday, when you find a treasure trove of your own, ye'll remember your old captain." Hector allowed himself a smile. "Though I doubt ye will."

Jack smiled back. "You never know, Captain Barbossa. I might actually find something. And I'd be happy to share it with you when I'm captain." Jack looked to the heavens, and mused with a thoughtful smile, "Captain Jack Sparrow…"

"I'd much 'preciate if ye kept this under your hat, Jack," Hector said, winking slyly. "Wouldn't want some people to get the wrong idea, would we?"

Jack nodded, rose to his feet, and forced himself to hide a wide childish grin. "No, cap'n. Course we wouldn't."

Hector shut the door as Jack swaggered out of the room. The boy was far too trusting. But he'd learn.

He'd learn.

* * *

Hector sat at a table in dingy, miserable Tortuga, nursing his drink in silence. Moodily, he stared around the tavern. Wenches and brawlers, whores and beggars, sailors and thieves, all mingled and caroused together in this tavern, and all avoided the old pirate's table. Like his old age was a plague that could be caught. 

Pfah. Let them look aside, let then pay no heed to him. Time catches up with everyone. No-one gets out of life alive. And, for the time being, he was still alive. And he wouldn't give up the ghost, come what may. Not yet. By thunder, not till he'd finished what he'd started.

He's had enough treasure to keep him in wine and women, true. But money vanished in Tortuga faster than snow on a hot day. Soon, it was only the girls who feared him, respected him, as a crew should respect a captain, who kept him company, and his drinks were bought by friends, or with coin that he'd gotten by land-based piracy - the collecting of 'protection money'. But Hector Barbossa was a patient man. He knew the seeds he'd planted years ago would one day come to fruition. He'd just have to wait. He just didn't know if he could wait much longer.

"Captain Barbossa! Ahoy thar!"

Hector looked up, hearing someone call his name over the laughter and shout of the tavern crowd. A man swaggered through the heaving mass of people and threw himself down at the table, grinning widely and somewhat drunkenly. Hector had to blink several times before he could recognise the man seated before him.

"Well," he said, surprised to see the boy alive, "If it isn't young Jack!"

The boy - now a man - held up a finger in correction. "I'd be much obliged if you call me Captain Jack Sparrow now," he said, grinning a grin that showed at least three golden teeth. "S'good t' see you again, cap'n."

Hector smiled, while hiding his dubiousness of Jack's appearance. The young man was almost extravagant in his show - bandana, knee-high boots, beads in his hair… he looked more like a story-book illustration of a pirate than a real one. How had this boy kept control of both a crew and a ship while looking like that?

"Wine and women still coming?" The extravagantly-dressed Jack inquired.

Hector shrugged, and sipped from his drink nonchalantly. "I could say so. Why, have ye come t' pay my tab, Captain Sparrow?"

"Hardly," Jack laughed. "But I did come to see you for something. How d'you feel about another trip out, cap'n? Another search for treasure? I have a business proposition for you, captain. If you're interested."

Hector shook his head, hiding the sudden flash of greed. "Nay, lad, I'm too old for that sort of thing now."

Jack gestured to the meagre flagon Hector gripped in his gloved hand. "If you can still drink, Barbossa, you can still sail. Besides, I need some experienced hands on this voyage. And who better to ask than my old captain and friend?"

Friend? Barbossa almost let a smirk cross his face - he hid it behind his flagon. So, the boy still hadn't learned. Well, he will. "Alright, lad," Hector said, allowing himself to appear persuaded, "What is it ye want me t' help you with?"

Jack leaned forward conspiratorially. "I found something. Treasure beyond any man's wildest dreams."

Hector felt his heart start beating faster, but he barely batted an eyebrow. _This was it!_ After years of searching, it was the boy he'd trusted with the ship who had found it. "Oh, aye? And what would that be?"

"I found the Isla de Muerta."

Hector had been expecting something interesting. Something amazing. But the mention of the famed Isla de Muerta was more than he'd expected the boy who had once swabbed the deck to find. Isla de Muerta - the Island of Death! The treasure of Cortez himself!

"Surprised you, didn't I?" Jack grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "Well, what say you?"

Hector sat back in his chair, still reeling. "The Isla de Muerta… By the Powers, Jack…" He didn't even need to feign the amazement in his voice, "How the blazes did ye…?"

Jack grinned. "I take it you'd be more'n happy to be first mate on this little voyage of discovery?"

"More'n 'appy, Jack." Hector Barbossa stuck out his hand to shake Jack's proffered paw. "More'n 'appy."

* * *

Hector stood in front of the door and scowled at it. This used to be his cabin. These used to be his quarters. This used to be his _ship_… Swallowing his bile, he rapped his knuckles on the door. 

"Enter," a voice said from inside. Hector's mouth twisted wryly. It was the same thing _he'd_ said years ago. Things were coming full circle after all. He opened the dor slowly and stepped inside.

Jack looked up, putting something into the pocket of his coat. He grinned easily at the sight of his old captain. "Barbossa! How can I help you?" He sat down, and motioned for Hector to do the same.

Hector smiled. "Jus' came t' check up on ye, lad." He frowned in concern. "Ye look a bit peaked."

Jack sighed, then smiled wearily at Hector. "It's a lot tougher to be a captain than I thought. Sometimes I think about just giving it all up and letting someone else fill the shoes."

Hector smiled. "Share your troubles, Jack. After all, I'm your First Mate, and mates stick together. Right, Jack?"

Jack smiled then, a little warmer. "Aye, that's true." He relaxed. "There's somethin' dark brewin' among the crew. Not outright rebellion, mind, but something stirrin'. Something not right."

Hector smiled amicably. "I could sort it out for ye, if ye want." He winked. "After all, what's a First Mate for?" He laughed as though it were the funniest joke, but Jack just smiled.

"Thankye, captain." The young Jack Sparrow said. "I owe ye, not just for this, but for everything." Jack turned and looked out the window, oddly reflective. "For taking me aboard when no-one else would. For teaching me how to sail. For making me captain of the _Black Pearl_." Jack smiled. "Whatever you want, old mate, you just ask, and I'll do whatever I can to help you."

Barbossa laughed. "Nay, Jack, I need naught from you. Seein' you doing a fine job of captaining the _Pearl_ is enough for me."

"You don't want anything?" Jack squinted, incredulous. "Anything at all?"

"Well," Hector amended, "There is my share of the treasure."

Jack laughed. "You can take the captain's share if you like." Jack sat up suddenly, and leant forward like he was sharing a secret. "Hell, you know what? I'll even give you the bearings so you could make a second trip if you feel like it."

Hector held up his hands. "Nay, Jack, ye should never give out the bearings to any treasure you own. Never."

Jack shrugged uneasily. "Why not?"

Hector looked at Jack with all seriousness. "Because ye never know what might make a man betray ye."

Jack threw back his head and laughed. And after a moment, Hector joined in.

"Betray me?" Jack shook his head, grinning like an idiot. "No man'd betray me, cap'n, least of all you. I trust you."

Hector just smiled, and watched as Jack drew up the charts that showed the location of the Isla de Muerta.

_Finally_, he thought, _it's done_.

The mutiny was short and brief. The men aboard, all bar Bootstrap Bill, were loyal to Barbossa and Barbossa alone. Jack's disbelief was like an elixir to Barbossa.

"I trusted you," he said, staring at Barbossa, unheeding of the pistols and cutlasses in his face. "I trusted you!"

"It's a mistake I doubt you'll get the chance to repeat." Hector said, smiling. Smiling like the crocodile he was. "Now, Jack, ye're welcome to walk home." The new captain turned to face the crew. "Along with anyone else."

The threat went unanswered. But a look passed between Bill and Jack that Barbossa was unable to ignore. This one would be trouble later, he thought. But what can one man do?

"Fine," Jack said, bitterly, "Do what's right by you." He turned his brown eyes on Hector. No longer did these eyes radiate innocence and trust - they were a man's eyes now, eyes full of hatred and deceit. "You won't get far."

Barbossa had to laugh. He laughed as Jack fell, spluttering, into the water, and laughed as Jack swam ashore. Bootstrap Bill looked out at the sea and said nothing.

"Three cheers for the captain!" One of the crew hoisted a cutlass into the air. The crew gave a rowdy cheer thrice over, and Hector Barbossa bowed to them all. The new and rightful captain of the _Black Pearl_ was back where he belonged.

* * *

**A/N**: I didn't intend for Barbossa to sound so scheming and evil, but I do believe that he planned the whole thing from the beginning, right down to the mutiny. The only thing he didn't plan on was Bootstrap Bill. And like I said, Barbossa rocks my socks, so he's a cool villain. But like all Disney villains, he's really REALLY bad -rolleyes- Hence the evilness. 


End file.
